Breaking the internet in the Age of the Public Menage a Trois

"Wanna Minaj?" reads one of Nicki Minaj's most recent Instagram posts . Nicki Minaj recently posed on the cover of Paper Magazine in a variety of scandalous poses with the goal of breaking the internet.

Considered one of the most successful female rappers in American history, Minaj is well known for her scantily-clad performances and sexually explicit lyrics.

Aside from turning heads and breaking necks, one must question not only the timeliness of the cover's debut but what message the rapper is sending during a time of progressive feminism. There are very few who are unfamiliar with the #MeToo campaign and the list of sexual assault accusations and offenders coming out daily in Hollywood. So what say the queen of the public menage a trois?

Some say the rapper's cover is an assault on male dominance of female sexuality, others claim it's a typical Nicki Minaj move, with nothing special to see here. Is Minaj making a statement about female sexuality? Is she allowing other women the rights to reclaim theirs?

Let's face it, whether or not you like Nicki's music or relate to her brand, the rapper nearly met her goal of breaking the internet - and became the topic of the town on Friday, with several stars chiming in with their own feedback of the public menage a trois. Among commentators were Wendy Williams and Eve, both who claimed the rapper's new work was simply doing too much.

Personally, I grew up adoring Nicki, but coming from a very conservative upbringing, my knee-jerk reaction was rather conflicted. While the artistic director's play on menage and Minaj was brilliant, I was alarmed by the poses. Never had I seen such a public display of sexuality before. But, I think that was the point. Society has always taught women that not only are we fragile creatures whose primary responsibilities are to take care of the home and our children, but that we must be resistant to showcasing our desires, when in actuality, we own the rights to be as free as we wish.

Summer Engman, author and life coach, wrote a posting in 2015 that spoke directly to this notion. In it, she detailed how society has conditioned females to believe that their sexual desire is dangerous and unattractive, which has forced generations of women to actually disassociate from their sexuality and their power over it. Engman detailed that, "when enough women suppress or disassociate from [their] desire[s], a sense of scarcity is created and our sex becomes a commodity."

Nicki Minaj is just one of the many women in the media who are sexualized, particularly when they play a large role in a sector of the entertainment industry. Kim Kardashian and sisters, Cardi B and Amber Rose are among the many women who have partaken in their own public sexualization - to an extent. What I find most interesting about Nicki is that she was talent first, worked with Young Money Entertainment which hypersexualized her brand, and now, in 2017, she's working to reclaim it.

So maybe she didn't quite break the internet - but Nicki Minaj is working as hard as she can to make sure she owns every piece of herself and her brand; and for that, I continue to admire her greatly.